Neon Genesis Evangelion: Project E Rebirth
by Brian Bloomfield
Summary: Five years have passed since the failed 3rd Impact. The survivors want nothing more than to move on with their lives, but it seems like maybe that isn't as easy as they thought. Especially with the revival of Project E and the construction of EVA Unit A.
1. Contact and Rebuttal

2015 – Shinji Ikari, Rei Ayanami, and Asuka Langley Sohru are called upon by the secret UN organization NERV to fight the Angel threat and to inadvertently cause a scenario-controlled Third Impact.

January 1, 2016 – Third Impact is triggered by Gendo Ikari using Rei Ayanami and the second angel, Lilith, but the controller of Third Impact, Shinji Ikari, aborts Third Impact in favor of the previous state of mankind. All of man returns with only a hazy recollection of the past 24 hours. All of the world's MAGI computers shut down at exactly the same time for no known reason.

April 1, 2016 – NERV and their secret backers, SEELE, are disbanded by the UN. The two surviving pilots, Shinji and Asuka, are placed into protective custody and given monetary compensation along with their guardian Misato Katsuragi.

April 2, 2016 – The Evangelion Combat Platform is decommissioned, and all three EVAs and their cores, presumed still active, are stored separately at a UN base in Montenegro.

2017 – Brian Watson, 22, graduates with PhDs in Computer Science, Biology, and Particle Physics from MIT. Dr. Brian Watson is promptly called upon by the UN to head up the newly restarted Magi Project. Project control is moved from Tokyo-3 to the MIT campus in the US. The three US Magi are activated on March 23, 2017 at 1:21 pm and are immediately reinitiated with the Tokyo-3 system backups. Dr. Watson is recommended for the Nobel Prize for Peace that year for his ability to restart the worldwide MAGI network.

2019 – Dr. Watson finds the Project "E" files buried deep in the Magi Mainframe. He secretly applies for a research grant from the UN to continue Project "E" research. On February 12, 2019, Project "E" is reopened, Dr. Brian Watson is named Project Director, Dr. Kozo Fuyutski is named Assistant Project Director.

October 10, 2020 – Dr. Watson has scheduled contact test one for Evangelion Unit A. He will perform the test contact himself.

**Neon Genesis Evangelion: Project "E" Rebirth**

**By Brian Bloomfield**

**Chapter 1**

**Contact and Rebuttal**

Boston, Massachusetts 

_Residence of Dr. Brian Watson_

October 9, 2020 3:10 AM 

Brian couldn't call it a night terror any longer. Nor was it a nightmare. He had been having the same dream for months now, and it didn't make any more sense to him now then it did when he first started having them, although it no longer scared him as it once did. He found himself in a barren wasteland, surrounded by desert and tumbleweed. It was dark out, but the sky was filled with a red glow. Brian heard a noise behind him and turned to find the same girl. She was slightly shorter than his six foot. She had shoulder-length black hair, piercing red eyes, and skin the color of the purest ivory. She stepped towards him and placed a hand over his heart.

"If the scenario isn't brought to a close, there isn't a future. Going halfway isn't enough. You'll know what to do, soon."

She would always turn and run from him, and he would always give chase. He was never fast enough though, and she would disappear over the horizon. Then he heard the roar, that bestial animal scream that would freeze his blood. He would turn, and EVA Unit 01 would be charging towards him. He wouldn't move, couldn't move. He would always stand there and let her take him. Right as she would crush him, he would awake.

Dr. Brian Watson stood on his back deck and breathed in the cool night air, the twenty-five year old trying to shake the dream from his already taxed mind. He tried to take his thoughts toward known things, such as the contact test in a few hours. He had designed a protective system that not only let anyone pilot an Evangelion, but allowed the core to function without being previously lit by another person's sacrifice.

"Is that why I keep dreaming of Yui?" Brian pondered to himself. "I must be subconsciously afraid of tomorrow's contact test, given the results that have come from every other first contact test." He thought of the woman's soul trapped in the decommissioned core of Unit 01. As Director of Project "E", he had extensive knowledge of all the EVAs and their operational history.

"This is ridiculous. We've tested the nerve connection system all the way to the borderline of step three in activation, and there has never been a sign of an ego border loop. The system will work." He turned and went back into his house, trying to get some more sleep, and trying to ignore the fact that no one knew about the border loop phenomenon until Yui fully connected to Unit 01.

On the other side of the world, it was 4 in the afternoon. In the rebuilt Tokyo-3, Shinji Ikari opens his apartment door and carefully navigated his Cello into his home. He had just come from practice for the Tokyo-3 Philharmonic, and he had some very exciting news for his family.

"Asuka! Misato! I'm home!" He sat the cello by the living room doorway and walked into the kitchen, to find Asuka and their guardian sitting at the same kitchen table that they had shared over the past six years, looking glum and sordid. Shinji took a seat, as of yet oblivious to the mood of the two women. "Guys, you are not going to believe what happened today at practice. I was moved up to first chair of the Cello's!" His brightly beaming face and optimistic attitude wasn't the only things that were different about the now twenty year old Shinji. He had sprung up it height, now coming 3 inches above Misato's head. He has also become more muscular, as he has ran track and played soccer in his last two years of high school.

Finally it sunk into his head that something wasn't quite right. His girlfriend, Asuka, looked at him sorrowfully. She really didn't want him to have to read the letter that had received today. Asuka pretty much looked the same as she did before, just more mature and her temper had cooled down a lot.

"Misato and I have something to tell you." Asuka glanced at Misato and knew that this would break her heart. Misato cleared her throat.

"Shinji, we received an invitation in the mail today. It's an offer to travel to the United States for a few nights, and to visit the MIT campus."

Shinji looked nonplused. "So? What's the big deal about that?"

Misato and Asuka locked eyes, and Misato handed Shinji the letter they had received a few hours earlier by special courier. As he read it, his face turned ashen, then turned pale white. When he was finished, he dropped the letter to the floor. Picking up his cello, he went out to the balcony and began to play "Air for the "G" string" by Bach.

The letter on the floor said:

TO: MISATO KATURAGI, COMMANDER OF COMBAT GROUPS, JSSDF

SHINJI IKARI, DESIGNATED THIRD CHILD

ASUKA LANGLEY SORYU, DESIGNATED SECOND CHILD

PROJECT "E" HAS BEEN REOPENED STOP. EVANGELION UNIT A FIRST CONTACT TEST OCTOBER 10 AT 4:30 PM EST STOP. DR. BRIAN WATSON INVITES YOU AND YOURS TO ATTEND CONTACT TEST STOP. WILL BE LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU STOP.

SIGNED,

DR. KOZO FUYUTSKI

END MESSAGE

"Dr. Brian Watson, Director."

"Access Granted, Good Morning Doctor."

The access door marked "Magi Project Control" slid aside to revel a room with six workstations around the wall, and a plasma screen on the far wall. At each terminal system operators were verifying regional MAGI operations, and the status of the entire network was displayed on the plasma screen. Brian walked over to the MIT console and tapped the woman working the controls on the shoulder. "Good morning, Brittany."

Brittany Frailey was an undergraduate student working at MAGI command and control for the extra cash and the internship credit it offered for her Computer Science degree. She struck Brian as a miniature clown, as she was not a very big girl at all and she was never serious…well, about anything other than her work. With brown hair running down her back and her face portraying her Asian background, Brian found her attractive, but never said anything at all. They were co-workers, and that was that.

"Dr. Watson, I wasn't expecting you so early. I haven't even finished the image capture yet." Every morning at eight AM EST, the world's MAGI draw matching sets of numbers and spend the next hour sending a complete backup of themselves to the MAGI set they drew that day. This provides a redundant set of backups in case one or multiple MAGI failure.

"Who'd we draw this morning?"

"Berlin. The image transfer is at 90."

"Good, I'll be in my office. Please have the MAGI page me when the image download is complete."

"Yes sir."

Brian walked towards the right corner of the room and placed his hand against the wall. A segment of the wall lit up under his hand.

"Welcome, Dr. Watson." The wall slid open reveling Brian's office. Brian walked in and sat his briefcase down. "Would you like some coffee?"

"Yes, please."

As the coffee maker on his desk percolated to life, Brian logged on to his MAGI terminal.

Typing for a moment to access Project "E" files, he began reading the results from the core pulse test he had conducted.

Based on available data, no conclusions can be drawn at this time. A live contact test and all resulting data is needed to conclude if Project Phoenix-Recovery is a viable option.

Brian slumped back in his leather office chair. He sat forward.

"If the ego breaker doesn't work, what are the odds of a fixed ego loop resulting?"

Brian watched as "processing" flashed on the screen for a few moments. The terminal beeped and flashed 99.999 at him.

He sat back and stared out his window, pale and shaking. He had never been this scared in his life.

Shinji tried to keep his mind clear as he slowly played "Rhapsody in Blue". Transposed for his cello, it was a relatively dark sounding piece. The face that he was playing it at three fourths the normal tempo was making it sound malevolent. He was jolted from his revelrey ar he realized that Asuka had taken a seat beside him.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

"It's been a long time since I was referred to as the Third Child…"

Asuka sat in silence, not knowing how to continue. She felt the same as Shinji. It had been a very long time since either of them had even thought about EVA.

"Shinji, don't let it eat you. I understand that the title is pretty hurtful…I never realized that until the day you finally snapped at me." She chuckled a little at the memory, and Shinji smiled.

_2016 – Katsuragi Residence_

"_Third, what the HELL are you still doing in bed! Get up and fix me breakfast." Shinji opened his eyes and saw Asuka standing in the doorway to his room, illuminated by the sunlight coming through his blinds._

"_She would be so pretty if she wasn't so angry." Those sort of thoughts were pushed aside by Asuka continuing to berate him. He ignored her as he stood up and pulled a shirt over his head. "She was at least civil while we were on the beach together, but these last few months after the official inquiry was over, she's been turning into a red-headed devil all over again." Shinji thought they had at least bonded a little, and had thought that she would give him time to change, because he said he would give her the same, but…_

"_Damnit Shinji! I'm talking to you!"_

_And without even realizing it, he said the words that were the bane of his existence. Everyone thought he did it on purpose. They didn't realize that if there was one thing that he wished he could stop doing, it was saying sorry all the goddamned time._

"_I'm sorry."_

_He watched as Asuka got that same old look on her face that she did every time he made her mad_

_(how am I making her mad?)_

"_Baka-Shinji! Just cook breakfast!"_

_Shinji was surprised at such a light response, so he walked into the kitchen and began preparing eggs and toast. He listened with half an ear as she continued ranting._

"_I swear, I have never met such a big idiot in my life. If this was Germany you would have…"_

_Shinji cracked eggs into the skillet. Asuka kept ranting._

"…_don't even know how many times I've had to correct you…"_

_Shinji sighed and flipped the eggs gently. He broke the yoke on the last one as what Asuka was saying finally sank in._

"…_abut as useless as your father and wonder sister…"_

_The one thing you have to understand is that it wasn't like Shinji wasn't making an effort. He often went to the arcade with his new and old friends alike, and he and Toji has joined soccer club at their new high school. He thought he was doing really good, and even with all of Asuka's ranting everyday, it was Misato's input that he was doing great that kept him going. So he mostly ignored her. He figured that if she wanted to walk to hell, he wasn't going to pave the road for her._

_But this time, she had crossed the line. She had invoked his father and Rei._

_After the aborted Third Impact, one of the first things Shinji had done was to disown his father completely, even though he was one of the people to never come back from the LCL ocean. He had also adopted Rei as his sister post-mortem. Her death certificate listed her officially as Rei Ayanami Ikari._

"_Damnit, Third! Are you even…" By the time Asuka saw the look on Shinji's face, she knew it was already too late._

_Ducking, the skillet Shinji had been using flew over her head and went sailing out of the balcony door, along with the eggs. Unfortunately, it was closed._

_Asuka stood up slowly, looking the berserker in the eyes. When he began to speak, it was in the coldest voice she would ever hear._

"_Listen to me very carefully, Second. My name isn't Third child, or baka-Shinji, or the pilot of Evangelion Unit 01. My name is Shinji Ikari, my sister's name was Rei, and I swear to the devil himself that if you ever invoke her name to me again in an insult, you're going to look like someone threw you down some stairs. A long flight of stairs."_

_He grabbed his jacket and began to walk past Asuka. He stopped right next to her._

"_And cook your own fucking eggs."_

_He marched out the door. Right after the door slammed, Misato came out of her bedroom to find a sobbing Asuka and a broken door._

"Hey, I may have been an ass, but I got my point across didn't I?" Shinji wrapped his arm around his red-haired goddess.

"Yes. Yes you did. And I thank you for it. You probably saved me that day."

"Sorry it had to be so…excessive."

"Don't worry about it. I deserved it, to say the least."

They sat in silence for a few moments, then Shinji spoke up.

"I want to go to the test."

Asuka slouched a little against his shoulder.

"Any particular reason?"

"Kozo. I trust him. I think Rei ended up giving me control instead of Gendo because of him. And I don't think that he would try and reinitiate Third Impact." Shinji sighed and stretched. "Besides, if something goes wrong, who else are they going to turn to besides the Great Asuka Langley Soryu and the Invincible Shinji?"

Asuka burst out laughing and punched Shinji lightly on the shoulder. She looked up at him and leaned forward, locking his lips with her own.

"I love you Asuka."

"Ditto, Shinji. I love you too."

Misato, who had seen the entire exchange, picked up the phone and dialed. "Kozo? It's Misato. We'll be on the first plane out in the morning."


	2. Activation

**Chapter 2**

**Activation**

"So, all updates are installed into Evangelion A?" Brian asked from the doorway. The room he was looking into was dark and illuminated by a single monitor and a cigarette. Brian could smell the dank tobacco from the doorway. He didn't wish to enter, he was on his way to the Project "E" Pribnow Box, and he just needed to be sure everything was ready.

"All updates on the Evangelion OS that have been verified as being 100 stable have been installed and the onboard computers have been restarted." A small smile twisted at the technician's face. "She's ready for you."

Brian stared into the room a moment longer than he wanted. "It's just a machine. Stop calling it a "she". He spun on his heals, walking up the stairs that would take him to the Project "E" hangar.

The blond scientist stared into the distance. "Tell yourself whatever you want Brian," she snuffed out her cigarette. "You'll find out soon enough."

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Brian stood at the entrance as the limousine pulled to the front of the football field sized building that housed the Evangelion project. As the black Lincoln came to a complete stop, he stepped forward before anyone else could and opened the rear door. As the purple-headed woman stepped out, he offered her his hand, which she took and shook delicately.

"Misato Katsuragi? I'm Dr. Brian Watson. I'm pleased you could make it." She examined the man for a moment. His dirty blond hair was cut in a fade style, but she could tell he went a little while between haircuts. He was looking a little ragged. He was clean-shaven, however, and his six-foot frame was clothed in an impeccable grey suit.

"It's an honor to be here on such an important day, even if I don't agree with your project." Misato noticed the slightly taxed look on his face, as if he had spent the last year refuting such remarks.

"I assure you, Commander, that by the time we're done here, you'll be on our side."

"Misato."

"What?"

"My rank is no longer from UN Special Forces, and we're not in Japan. Call me Misato."

"As you wish…Misato." He grinned easily. Brian liked this woman. "Did the children come with you? I really wanted them to be here for this."

"We're right here, but we're not children anymore."

Brian and Misato turned their heads toward the limo to see Shinji and Asuka getting out of the vehicle. Brian walked up and shook both of their hands. "It is an honor to meet you both. I'm so happy you could be here today for this."

Shinji looked around anxiously and Asuka noticed, taking up for him. "Well, as long as you're not trying to destroy the human race, I really don't think we'll have a problem."

Brian shook his head. "No, no. I have much smaller goals in mind."

Misato stood with her children. "Such as?"

Brian looked as Misato and the children hesitantly before continuing. "I'm not sure I should say just yet."

Shinji spoke up. "It took a lot of faith to fly halfway around the world, to a city we've never been to, to meet a person we've never met, who revived the defining trauma of my and Asuka's lives. We can leave just as easily."

Brian faltered, sighing. "Project "E" is merely a stepping stone to the next project I have in mind. My ultimate goal is the completion of Project Phoenix-Recovery."

Misato, Shinji, and Asuka all spoke at once. "Which would be?"

Brian lit a cigarette and continued. "The recovery of first contact pilots lost to spark the EVA cores."

He turned and began to walk into the building. Without even glancing behind him, he knew that his guests were but a step behind.

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Brian pushed a button on the projector remote, and the PowerPoint moved to the next slide. On the screen, an image of an EVA core was shown, surrounded by a lattice of crystal nodules.

"These devices you see on the surface of the Evangelion core are collectively called an Ego Breaker. It sums up like this; when an Evangelion is first activated, the core is empty, and triggers an infinite loop in the synch between the Evangelion and the pilot. This loop, an Infinite Ego Loop, causes the first pilot of any Evangelion to become trapped in the core, where they will now act as a pathway for the future pilots synchronization."

Brian looked at his audience, which consisted to Misato, who sat straight backed, Shinji and Asuka, who were crushing each others hands holding on tighter and tighter, and several UN observers, who had flown in from Geneva and New York to watch today's test.

"The Ego Breaker acts as that intermediary, so that a life must not be sacrificed. They generate a rotating pulse signal that disrupts the direct dispersion of the pilot's ego border, preventing a synch ratio of 400 from occurring."

Brian moved on to the next slide. "The safest ratio a normal Evangelion and their pilot can obtain is 100. Anything after that, and the pulses begin flowing backwards into the pilot. At 400, these backflow pulses create the Ego Loop."

Turning off the projector and turning on the lights, Brian took a seat. "Any additional questions?"

Shinji immediately raised his hand. "How are you planning to apply this technology to the old EVAs?"

Dr. Fuyutski, who had been sitting quietly until this point, spoke up. "Shinji, if the Ego Breaker works on a fresh EVA and a new core, we think it can be used to disrupt an already present ego loop, like those that exist in the old EVA series."

Misato interjected. "Kouzou, why are you two doing this? Anything I've ever see relating to EVA has had twisted motives and sick fantasies." She looked skeptically at the two. "What are your motives, truly?"

Brian lit another cigarette and chuckled. "Personally, I want to morph Project "E" into a space exploration system. The Evangelion platform is very versatile. And, I wouldn't mind another Noble Prize. This is, after all, the greatest scientific endeavor ever undertaken by man."

"I just wanted to put right what I had let go wrong." Kouzou looked down. "I wanted to wash the blood off my hands…" He looked up at Shinji and Asuka. "…In the hope that if I ever see Yui and Kyoko again, they'll forgive me."

Shinji sat there unblinking; the same look on his face as Asuka's, shock and hope. He then spoke up about something that had bothered him since he had learned that Dr. Watson himself was going to pilot. "Doctor, I'd hate to sound like I'm stating the obvious…but exactly how old are you?

Brian felt suddenly uncomfortable and light-headed. _If he's asking about the Institute Report…then he doesn't know…_

_I have to tell him._

Brian cleared his throat. "Shinji, Asuka…I'm twenty-five. I was born in 1995."

"What about the age limit for piloting Evangelion? Is the updated Evangelion Series able to cope with such difficulties?"

"There never were any difficulties. NERV and SEELE picked specific people who would play key rolls in their scenario-controlled Third Impact…that I'm sure you know enough about. An Evangelion core can contact anyone through our Synthetic LCL, regardless of age."

Asuka and Misato had both paled considerably, but Shinji merely nodded. "I thought so."

A speaker squealed to life. "Project "E" contact test in T-Minus 60 minutes. Dr. Watson to plugsuit fitting, all other project personnel please report to the Upper Level Pribnow Box.

Brian opened the door to the room. "Well folks. It's almost time. Please make your way to the Pribnow Box and wait for the test to commence."

They all filed out behind Brian. Kouzou, Shinji, and Asuka were the last one's out. "Dr. Fuyutski?" Kouzou stopped and turned to find the children looking at him.

"Yes Shinji? Asuka?

"We think they already forgave you. We have." They stepped away, walking down the hall.

Kouzou shut his eyes, remembering a conversation he had once held with Gendo.

"_We're damned, aren't we Ikari?"_

Kouzou sighed and spoke to himself. "If not then, then definitely now. God help me for doing this." Kouzou stopped after realizing the foolishness of what he has just said. He walked down to the Pribnow Box to prepare for the test.

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"Main voltage regulators?"

"Holding steady at 1450."

"Synthetic LCL?"

"Loaded and oxidized."

"Synchroneuron connection?"

"Standing by. Ready to initialize connection."

Brittany flipped the switch to the Evangelion entry plug. "Brian, all systems are showing green across the board. Should we proceed with plug injection?"

Brian nodded toward Brittany's face on the wall of the entry plug. "Insert entry plug and proceed to phase one of activation."

"Roger, proceeding with plug injection and phase one."

Everyone watched from the Pribnow box as the entry plug was dropped into the green and grey Evangelion unit A. Shinji had been shocked to see the Evangelion at first. 'It looks like they just painted unit 01.' He had commented to Misato and Asuka.

Brittany typed at her console and flipped a couple of switches on the master control panel. A low thrumming could now be heard throughout the facility.

"Proceeding with phase one connection."

From around the room, various technicians called out status reports.

"Voltage still holding steady."

"LCL charged and active. A-10 connection commencing."

"Motor neurons connected."

"Steps complete up to 1350."

Brittany again opened the feed to the cockpit. "Brian, phase one has been completed. Motor neuron and A-10 connection active and standing by."

"Proceed to stage two of the experiment."

"Roger that."

Everyone watched as Brian was connected to the EVA slowly, step by step. Shinji leaned towards Asuka. "It feels so weird being on this side of it for a change."

She grinned and nodded. "I know what you mean. Brings back all those wonderful memories of LCL"

Activity continued in the box. "Sense neurons connected."

"A-10 nerve pathways still holding on standby, as well as motor neurons."

"Acttivating onboard computer."

"Steps completed up to 2450."

In the entry plug, the rest of the plug walls covered with status windows as the EVA computer powered up. He quickly logged in and waited as the system powered up.

A low thrum was added to the background noise. "Ego Breaker is online and ready to engage. Stage two of activation complete."

A small amount of whispering commenced. 'Is he actually going to go for it?'

Brittany cleared her throat and immediately silenced such talk. She opened the comlink to the plug. "Brian, stage two of the experiment is complete."

"Status?"

Brittany quickly checked her board. "Still five by five."

A moment of silence hung in the air. "Finish the activation, go to stage three."

She allowed herself a small grin. She had been waiting over a year for this. "Roger that sir."

She turned towards the rest of the technicians in the box. "You heard the man! Let's light up the tree."

"A-10 nerve connection initializing, all neural links synched to A-10 activity."

"Synchronization between Eva and pilot approaching critical limits."

"Activation borderline in 2.1…1.7…1.2… 0.4… 0.3… 0.2… 0.1…"

Everyone in the control room had their eyes focused on the connection screen at the front of the box. Suddenly, green raced over the borderline and rocketed up to the 64 mark.

"We have contact! Synchronization ratio at 64!"

Cheers erupted in the control room, and then suddenly went dead quiet. They all remembered that Yui had synched seemingly fine at first.

"Is the synch ratio holding?" Brittany asked nervously.

After a moment, the man she had questioned sighed. "Negative, ratio is climbing slowly. Synch ratio now at 81."

Another voice called out. "Ego Breaker active and cycling up. System predicts a break at 390."

Brittany immediately opened the comlink to Brian. "Doctor, your synch ratio is climbing, we believe that the EVA is trying to trap you…I recommend that we engage the safety protocols and try again sir."

Brian sat in the entry plug, feeling the EVA for the first time. He'd never imagine it would be like extra sensory perception. "Negative on that abort, Miss Frailey. We must see if the Ego Breaker will function. Besides, I feel fine so far."

Brittany checked her readout. "Doctor, you're synch ratio is now at 156 and still climbing…"

"Roger that."

Brittany turned to Kouzou with a questioning look. "Sir, should we abort?"

Kouzou shook his head. "He's right. We have to see if this will work."

Brittany looked at the system display. "Current ratio is at 233 and steadily climbing."

Kouzou stepped forward. He was at Yui's contact experiment after all. "Brian, are you experiencing pain of any sort? Any discomfort?"

Brian drew himself from the relaxing feeling that was washing over him, making him tired and energetic at the same time. "Negative. Nothing like Yui went through. Very mellow. What's my ratio?"

Kouzou looked and responded. "336 and climbing."

Brian checked the synch indicator in his plug. "Ratio at 354…383…389…"

As soon as the synch ratio hit 390, the pulse alarm went off in the Pribnow Box. Brittany quickly scanned the boards. "Abort the sequence, we have a pulse backflow from the breaker!" Technicians all across the room began shutting down the Evangelion. On the viewer, Brian could be seen in the plug seizing.

"Vitals?" Someone asked.

"Plugsuit reports a feedback seizure."

"Finish the shutdown. Get him the hell out of there!" Kouzou walked forward and flipped the protective wire cage off of the abort handle and yanked it. Evangelion Unit A immediately lost all voltage and shutdown.

"Quickly, extract the plug and get a medic!"

From the back of the room, Shinji and Asuka turned and walked out of the room…followed closely by the UN observers.

Both of them had seen all they had needed to.

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Brian slowly opened his eyes to the white ceiling of the…what was it?

'Where am I?' Brian slowly turned his head to the left and saw the vital monitors hanging next to him. He lazed back and groaned in defeat. 'This means…'

"The experiment was a failure." Kouzou walked out of the bathroom and sat back down on the folding chair next to the bed. Brian turned gingerly to face him.

"What happened? The last thing I remember was hitting 390 on the synchroscale."

Kouzou shook his head sadly. "When you his 390, the ego breaker tripped and sent a pulse backflow through the nervous system of the Unit A." He smiled lightly. "If you had been synched any higher, it would have killed you."

Brian sighed. "Did the AC recorder survive the pulse?"

Kouzou hesitated for a moment. "No. The surge blew back and took out the trifuse termination right before the plug connectors. It's scrap."

Brian swallowed deeply and breathed evenly before asking the next question. "What about the UN inspectors?"

"I'm afraid we've run out of time Doctor. They are pulling the plug. They told me that we have one more month before it goes before committee…and that they are going to ask that our funding be a decommission budget from now on.

Kouzou stood. "I'm sorry, Brian. You did your best. Get some rest. They pumped enough drugs into you to kill a horse." He walked out, closing the door behind him.

'He speaks as though we are already defeated.' Brian closed his eyes and let the exhaustion and the drugs overtake him.

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Waking up lightly from the sunlight glinting into his eyes, Shinji raised his head slightly above the red fireball and looked at the alarm clock on the hotel bed nightstand.

_7:03 AM_

He let his head fall back into the pillow. Plenty of time before their flight out that night. Closing his eyes, he allowed himself to snuggle closer to Asuka.

She felt his hands wrap around her tighter and sighed contentedly. "Shinji?"

"Hmm?"

"You awake?"

"If I said yes, I'd be lying."

"Smartass…"

"I miss the days when you called me a pervert."

She rolled over in bed to face the dark haired man she loved. "Bullshit. And besides, you know I can't say that to you anymore. You'll just toss it back in my face."

He blinked and looked at the girl. "Now what ever gave you that idea?"

To answer, she didn't say anything at all, but soon, Shinji was all ears.

And a little after that, she tried to give him the answer.

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Shinji sat down at the table in the hotel lobby with Misato and Asuka. A waiter soon came to their table, and they ordered their drinks, three vanilla cappuccinos, and their breakfast.

"So, what's on the agenda today?" Shinji glanced at his watch. 10:30 AM.

Misato shrugged. "I was thinking about checking out the MIT labs more. That place was a lot bigger than those three rooms we saw, and I was able to snag these." She reached into her purse and pulled out three all-access ID cards from the Project "E" Laboratory.

Shinji and Asuka stared at their "mom" in disbelief. "Misato…" Shinji said exasperatedly at her. Asuka just death-glared her.

Misato put on a Kawaii face. "What? I got them as part of the tour package. I just told the guard I was with the UN inspectors…and that I would be back tomorrow also."

Asuka crossed her arms. "I don't know about this…"

Misato crossed her arms back. "Do you have anything better to do today?"

"Not in particular." Asuka said easily, trying not to tip off that she actually thought it was a great idea.

Shinji leaned in grinning evilly, not trying to be bashful about it. "I think it's a wonderful idea."

Misato grinned evilly back at him and then looked expectantly towards Asuka. "Well…are you in?"

Sighing, she rolled her eyes. "Fine, I guess I'll tag along with the loser squad."

Shinji and Misato looked at her irate and leaned towards her at the same time. "Hey, we're not losers!"

"All's fair in love and war."

"Humph!" Shinji and Misato leaned back, putting their backs together and crossing their arms, eerily recreating the famous Asuka tantrum look. She looked at them and sighed.

"Fine you got me!"

They all laughed greatly and as they were settling back down, the waiter came with their breakfast.

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"I'm now calling this meeting of the 31st gathering of the 32nd Illuminati council to order."

Silence prevailed in the dark room. Gathered in a circle were 12 monoliths with white numbers on them, 1 through 12. 01 was the chairman of the council, so he began to speak once silence descended upon the room. "We have existed since the ancient times for one soul purpose, to bring about the end of the age of man. We have never been so close to our goals as a few years ago, but unfortunately NERV and SEELE failed in their tasks."

05 spoke up. "It is something that our cover wasn't lost. All surviving members of SEELE, who were the only one with knowledge of our group, have maintained silence thus far."

08 interjected. "Why wouldn't they? Our goals and theirs are practically bedfellows."

01 spoke up again. "That isn't good enough. Their goals and ours have never been aimed at the same end. They wanted evolution…we want extinction."

Murmurs of consent washed throughout the room.

"I want them all terminated, all the surviving SEELE councilmen. Let's vote."

Nine of the monoliths turned green, two turned red, and one abstained.

"Very well, the motion passes. Our next order of business…"

A circle lit in the middle of the room showing an older gentleman with what many would consider to be a friendly face.

02 spoke up. "We have received the AC log from the contact test. Is there a chance that Dr. Watson will correct his theory in time to keep his funding alive?"

Kouzou shook his head. "Not a chance. The doctor is still in the hospital, and as far as he knows the AC recorder was fried in the accident. He'll never discover the truth, at least not in time to keep his project."

11 spoke up. "This is all speculation anyway. We're not going to give the doctor time to validate his theory or to get his funding back."

"Do you have the rest of the data?" 01 spoke up.

Kouzou sat a disc on the floor at his feet. "That disc contains all of the correct pulse settings for the Ego Breaker. Once reset with that disc, Unit A will start and your pilot will be able to steal it as planned."

"Excellent, Doctor. You're excused."

The floor dropped away from the center of the room, taking Fuyutski away from the secret meeting place. As soon as he was gone, 01 spoke up again. "I want a vote. Shall we move up our timetable and retrieve the units from the MIT labs as soon as possible?"

Eleven monoliths lit up with one abstaining again.

"Excellent. The attack begins in 12 hours."

All the monoliths went dark.

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After entering the laboratory, Misato split from Shinji and Asuka, saying she wanted to look at the defensive capabilities of the lab. "I know they have something. Only an idiot would leave an EVA lying around in downtown Boston without some sort of security."

So Shinji and Asuka proceeded into the depths of the laboratory by themselves, taking their time to explore everything as they went. They found the plugsuit fitting room and the LCL production room.

Walking away from the latter, Shinji sighed in relief. "For a second, I thought that I would walk in and see Lilith. Thank God it was nothing more but two vats and a bunch of glass tubes."

Nodding, Asuka voiced her agreement. "Tell me about it. I was a little freaked out by the idea of that guy volunteering to breath blood…what is it?" Shinji had stopped in front of an elevator door marked with the numbers "00". Asuka noticed they had walked into a dead-end hallway.

Shinji opened and closed his mouth for a moment, then shook his head. "I don't quite know. But something's not right. I wonder where this elevator leads…"

Asuka touched Shinji's arm. "Shinji, you don't really think that…"

Shinji looked her in the eyes with a haunted gaze. "I don't know. But I intend on finding out." He swiped the magnetic card in the reader…which made it light up red and emit an error tone.

"What the hell?" Shinji tried again, with the same result. Asuka leaned over and swiped her card, with the exact same result. "Magi, this is UN inspector #4," Asuka said, reading from the back of her card. "Who has security clearance for this door?"

"Drs. Brian Watson and Kouzou Fuyutski, although Dr. Watson has never used his clearance."

Asuka and Shinji looked at each other for a moment. "There is definitely something way not good here, Sohru."

"I couldn't have said it better myself."

"Let's get in there."

Shinji flipped his pocketknife open and popped the card reader out of place. He started cutting and twisting wires together.

"Where did you learn how to be a secret agent?" Asuka asked sarcastically.

"Kensuke. When you're friends with a military otaku, it rubs off after a while."

Shinji finished up and placed the card reader back inside the wall. Swiping his card, the reader beeped happily and the elevator doors slid aside. They walked in and Asuka hit the only button on the panel. "Not much of a choice."

"This is starting to feel more and more like the old days."

As the doors slid shut, Asuka groaned. "Oh God, don't say that."

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Brian opened his eyes and looked around. All around him was a desolated battleground. Dead bodies lie strewn all across the ground all around him, and above him, the MP EVA series controlled the sky.

"Unless you do something, this will soon be the entire Earth." Brian turned to find a face he knew quite well. Yui Ikari stood dressed in a white sundress, something Brian found disconcerting considering their surroundings.

"Yui! What is this?"

She looked at Brian in the way one would look at a dull child. "The Evangelions were created from Gods, and they use the defense mechanisms of the Gods."

"You mean the AT fields?"

She merely nodded. "There are those that walk the Earth that wish to possess what you've created. As for what they wish to do with it…is anyone's guess."

Brian suddenly felt as though she was lying. "Then what do I do?"

"You will find you're way, and when you do…come to Montenegro. Free Dr. Akagi and I. We know what needs to be done…otherwise…" Brian heard a ferocious roar behind him. Turning, Unit 01 pounced on him. Before he was touched, the dream ended. Sleep didn't. Brian would still need many hours to recover from the contact experiment.

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As the elevator reached the bottom of the shaft, the doors opened and cold air rushed into the elevator. Shinji and Asuka quickly began shivering from the cold. They walked out of the elevator onto a steel catwalk. It appeared to go on for a distance, but the rest of the cavernous room was unlit. Shinji stepped out of the elevator.

"What in God's name is this?"

Asuka quickly joined him. "I have no idea. Look, a light switch."

The switch Asuka was referring to was a breaker box with a red master handle on the side. Walking the few feet over to it, she threw the handle up to the on position. A great deal of power could be heard rushing through the space above, and dim lights flickered on at even intervals. A loud buzzing could be heard from the partially lit bulbs.

"Sodium lamps. They take a moment to charge and turn on." Shinji turned towards the elevator doors, still open.

"Shinji…" Asuka said hesitantly. "Do you see something out there?"

"Well, I still can't…" Before Shinji finished his sentence, the lights thrummed to full power, and the entire room was illuminated. Lying on the floor was what looked like giant pieces of a human body. Both of the young adults stared in shock at the mess of body parts lying on the hanger floor.

"Jesus…" They both murmured at the same time. Shinji stepped forward to the railing and looked around.

"What the hell is this?"

Shinji continued his visual inspection of the pieces lying on the floor. Here and there he saw piece of blue peaking out of the burnt remains. Towards the back, he saw a white tube that was bent and broken. Looking closer, he saw a 00 written on the side.

"My god, this is the wreckage of the prototype…"

Shinji grabbed Asuka's arm and got back into the elevator. "C'mon Asuka. We've got to find Misato."

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Brian was sitting up in his bed, eating the worst cheeseburger he had ever had in his entire life.

'Good god, I'll make sure never to come back into here just because of the food!'

He took a drink of his vanilla milkshake (which he had to argue with the nurse for) and looked up in surprise as Misato, Shinji, and Asuka walked into his room, looking pretty pissed.

He swallowed his milkshake and looked at them innocently. "What?"

Misato exploded. "What do you mean, what? You honestly didn't think we'd find out about it?"

Brian looked between the three, than shook his head. I honestly haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about."

Shinji spoke up. "We're talking about Unit 00."

Asuka piped in. "We found it in the lower hanger of you're laboratory."

Brian looked genuinely confused. "What the hell are you talking about? What lower hanger? And above all, that's impossible; Unit 00 was self-destructed to destroy the 16th angel."

"We know that!" Shinji moved to the man's bedside. "I don't know what the hell you think you're doing, but you're not going to get away with it! Did you really think we'd stand idly by after what happened last time?"

Asuka walked up and grabbed Brian by the shirt. "What the hell are you doing with Unit 00?

"Nothing! I didn't even know we had the wreckage here!"

"Bullshit, you're the project director!"

"Actually, you might want to listen to him. He's telling the truth."

They all turned to face the doorway, to find Kouzou standing at the entrance to the room, holding a gun to all of them.

Brian's face turned into a mask of pure shock. "K-Kouzou! What the hell are you doing?

He merely shrugged. "Finishing what I started." He stepped forward and let the door close behind him. "Did you really think this would be another research project? The Evangelions have a far greater purpose. This must be fulfilled."

Misato's face was etched deep with betrayal. "So this is all about Instrumentality?"

"You don't even understand how deep this goes."

Brian spoke up. "So it's true. The wreckage is here…"

"Yes, I brought it in piece by piece and stored it in the one place I knew you wouldn't look, in the wastewater runoff processing plant."

"Why? Why have you done all this? I gave you your academic career back!"

Kouzou took a seat across from the group and kept his gun trained on them. "I think it's time I tell you about the truth behind Unit 00 and Rei Ayanami."


End file.
